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It's time for us to re-do our mailbox. The post is getting old and cracked. Not even a coat of paint will spruce it up at this point. I always notice mailboxes when out on walks. It's almost a 1 in 10 that the mailbox looks pretty and inviting.

I found these mailbox garden designs (bhg) and would love to add some interest with the re-do.

Another Mailbox garden pic. So what is your mailbox? Mayhem or Magic?

Please share any inspiration pics too.

Have you seen these FUN mailbox designs?

Imagine decorating them for each season or theme.

http://creativemailboxplanters.com/gallery.html

These look lovely. The problem on my street is that the road crews put salt on the streets in the winter and that's kicked up on the treelawns. Most people put annuals around the mailboxes in my area, if they are going to plant around them.

Unfortunately, the county sprays around our mailbox, so it wouldn't matter if I planted annuals or perennials, they'd spray it just the same. I'd love to do something to our area, but it wouldn't do any good.

Here's a pic of the vine growing up mine that I took recently. Its a Mina Lobata. I have a small area that I change every summer. The problem to keep in mind is that if it is close to a walking area or sidewalk (~?) You will want it to always look nice & kept up. The larger the area ~~the more work you will make for yourself. I also have to worry about the salt trucks in the winter months that heap snow & salt in the area. I stick to a variety of annuals & have enjoyed changing them each summer. Neighbors wait to see what vine I will plant!

Oh my Paws and Barb,

I didn't think about salt spray and the plants. We don't have that here in FL but have to consider the right-of-way.

Muddy, That is a great plant for the area. It looks like you have a nice mailbox too. You are so right about creating more work. LOL. I am happy to say that 2 different neigbors have recently commented that the yard is looking good. So maybe I should quit now.

Also the mail lady wouldn't like any bees buzzing through the planter either. Yikes!

I don't think my mailbox falls into either category. Where I live mailboxes are mounted on a wall outside, next to the front door or the front door has a mail slot. The postal carrier has to park their truck and walk through the neighborhood and up to each mailbox.

I always enjoy seeing pictures of planting around mailboxes on posts.

Barb in Mississippi, I never realized that counties sprayed around mailboxes. I thought it didn't snow where you live. What are they spraying in Mississippi?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: still tryin,

I just thought of something else. Where does the mail carrier leave boxes that are delivered if they are too large to fit in your mailbox? They leave the packages on the porch by the front door here. If you have a large package delivered where you live do they leave it by the mailbox? Wouldn't that be problem if you planted a bed around your mailbox?

Seems like every year I try to do something like that. Problem is that my mailbox is in front of a telephone pole and I can't really work around it.

The other thing is, that the plows hit it! I've tried to get DH to move it back further from the road, but he says the mailman/lady will have a hard time reaching it.

And last week, someone hit it with their car!

quote:

I've tried to get DH to move it back further from the road

According to the USPS web site, the front of the mailbox (the lid you open) has to be between 6 to 8" from the edge of the curb.

Now you can go measure and tell DH to move it... or not, as the case may be.

My mailbox is a disaster. Plain old mailbox. I think about putting flowers around it, but that's as far as it goes. Our lawn goes out to the street, even though part of that area is right of way. The county doesn't touch it.

Barb, that must be just a local DOT thing, or somebody who likes to play with herbicides, and there's lots of people like that.

Oh, if we have a package that won't fit in the box, they leave it at the front door on the porch.

MDOT, the county and the state HWY dept. are all different departments, but work out of the same office and have the same employees. It does snow here, but it's not a huge accumulation and when they spray they are spraying for kudzu and weeds. I don't think they have figured out which is cheaper, mowing or spraying for the weeds and tall grasses.
There are several people who like to "play" with herbicides!

TY, Barb and FF for the answers.

Barb, I thought Mississippi was too far south for it to snow. I looked up the monthly averages for your town. I had no idea your average temps were that low from December through February. I was even more surprised to see that every month of the year you average 3 inches or above of precipitation.

We don't have home mail delivery where we live so I haven't had a mailbox to decorate or landscape in over 20 years. I've seen some nice mailboxes with wrought iron posts and supports that I really like altho don't have a pic.

Here's a pic of an obelisk mailbox that would be cute for a cottage style garden.

Still tryin, did you look on a map to see where Barb is located?...just out of Memphis!

I'm rural like Barb but they don't spray here. They don't even mow our secondary roads, just the highways.
My mail box is along an asphalt road without curbs...just rocks. It is also in a combo of sand & clay & has a fire ant hill that WILL NOT stay gone! And it gets dry as a bone there too and no access to any water close!...0.10mi. from the house. I finally planted a lantana there this year as every other thing I've planted has died quickly. So far, so good...but that blasted ant hill is back! They just moved a couple of feet!

quote:

Originally posted by metwo:

quote:

I've tried to get DH to move it back further from the road

According to the USPS web site, the front of the mailbox (the lid you open) has to be between 6 to 8" from the edge of the curb.

Now you can go measure and tell DH to move it... or not, as the case may be.

Our lawn goes right to the road too, so maybe 8 inches back from that? I'm going home and arming myself with a measuring tape Thanks for the info!

I think the pictures of sketches you posted of gardens around mailboxes was waaaay too complicated for me. OMG, I couldn't keep something like that looking so nice, never! I am impressed if you are that ambitious, good for you!!! I can't get over Muddy's "Vine". Does it flower at all? What a gorgeous 'vine'! That would look really pretty with Morning Glory flowers all over it. Where I live we also have the mailboxes that are on the wall right next to the door or in door slots (I have a door slot on bottom). I personally like mailboxes closer to the house so they'd be safer from 'theft'. (I'm a paranoid ex N.Y.'er okay??? )
Barb in Miss: Does your county spray everyone for free or do you have to request that they spray your area? You definitely must be real rural! Let them come to my backyard please, I'll gladly pay them!!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Wavy,

Mine is ugly.

Lucky I love that mailbox!

Joyluck~ Love that idea pictured there!

Wavy~ Did mention that its a Mina. The one other time I grew this it bloomed late in Fall. Think the pics are in my off line photo storage. I liked the vine & having health issues this summer so just glad to have a healthy vine growing there. They grow pretty tall so I just keep wrapping it around as I do with MG vines. Around the vine is dusty miller, varigated sedum, white geraniums & yellow nasturtiums. I posted that earlier in the season somewhere here. It has maintained a pretty look & just had to remember to give it a blast with the hose once a day thru punishing summer heat.

found this one online ~ Mina Lobata bloom for Wavy!

Wow, that's cool, very unusual. Yes, you told me the name of the flower, but alas, I was unfamiliar with that flower (what else is new?!)The vine itself is very healthy looking (very lush and full looking). You really have a green thumb!

Not sure I started it early enough but not feeling that great so just happy with the vine even if the cold gets it before it blooms. It will remind me that around here it should be started under grow lights if I want to really enjoy it. It still has a month or so to pop!

We are on a Hwy. and that is probably why they do spray and mow. Our hwy. doesn't have curbs...like karen we just have gravel,sand and clay on the sides of the road. The fire ants stay away from the hwy. They WILL have their mound run over if they are even on the side of the road.
When I'm mowing the yard, when I find a fire ant mound that will not go away, I mow over it several times and make sure that I disturb everyone! May take a few mowings, but eventually they will move...a few feet.

Love the ideas. Muddy, yours is looking good. I also like the white with the clematis, what a striking combination. As far as postal regulations go, there are some carriers who are absolutely insane about all the rules, we once got cited for rusty hinges--it was the winter and we couldn't do much about it.

No kidding?! Rusty Hinges? Mail lady likes me I give her candy! LOL

Thanks Everyone!

Lots of considerations to think about for the mailbox.

Lucky, Snagged that pic for inspiration. Love it.

Wanda, Our mailbox has been hit by the cement truck, a kid on his bike, and an errant driver. LOL.

Hopefully they would see a garden planter! I'll post back with the final results but waiting on some cooler weather first.

quote:

Originally posted by muddyshoes:
No kidding?! Rusty Hinges? Mail lady likes me I give her candy! LOL

Never heard of such a thing as getting sited for rusty hinges! The mail box belongs to you, not the PO....they just need some kind of reciptical to deposit mail into.

Muddy, our mail lady likes us too...I give her a friendship cake every year at Christmas, jelly if I make any and extra fresh produce. She likes my bell peppers.

Fooey, can't do much with our mailbox. Since everyone on the street has fenced in 10 acres with entry gates, the P.O. makes the homeowners put all their mailboxes together in one spot on the road about 1000ft from the house. It's ugly, but not much I can do about it.

If we have a package that won't fit in the box, at least they do drive up to the house or leave it at the gate.

Yes rusty hinges, they have lots of regulations about them, no normal person would even think to enforce. He even cited the house across the street for not having a new mailbox installed in the middle of winter when the city snowplow took theirs out and the snow was piled high. Glad he's gone don't know if we could have survived another onslaught of regulations. The guy at the office is like a guest, he is simply the best with information about what the post office can do and he's so cheerful. We always make sure that we give him a giant box of good chocolates for Christmas that he can share with the rest of the post office--they think we're the best! I think that the guy at home was simply an unhappy sad postman who took out his unhappiness on his postal customers. Never had anyone else like him.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 16paws,